Test point circuit, scan flip-flop for sequential test, semiconductor device and design device

ABSTRACT

It is possible to reduce the number of test point circuits to be inserted necessary to accomplish a target fault coverage, to suppress an increase in an area overhead, and to reduce a test time. A test point circuit according to an embodiment constitutes a scan chain, and captures, in one capture operation period of a clock sequential test, a first operation result in a second capture clock that comes after a first capture clock, the first operation result having been captured by a test point circuit at a previous stage or a last stage of the scan chain in the first capture clock.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefits of prioritiesfrom Japanese patent applications No. 2015-186270 filed on Sep. 24, 2015and No. 2016-023384, filed on Feb. 10, 2016, the disclosures of whichare incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a test point circuit, a scan flip-flopfor a sequential test, a semiconductor device, and a design device, andrelates to, for example, a technique applicable to a logic built-in selftest (LBIST).

A general test method of a Large Scale Integration (LSI) includes a scantest. In order to perform the scan test, a flip-flop (FF) in a circuitis substituted with an FF including a multiplexer (MUX) called a scanFF. The MUX is able to switch a test input and a normal operation inputby a scan enable signal.

When the scan test is performed, scan FFs are connected in serial andoperate as a shift register (this will be referred to as a “scan chain”)that can be controlled and observed from an external terminal of theLSI. The scan chain is subjected to a shift operation so that anarbitrary test pattern (load data) is supplied (loaded) to therespective scan FFs from the test input. This is referred to as a “scanshift operation”. The test pattern set in the respective scan FFs isapplied to a combination circuit to be tested.

By switching scan enable signals, an operation result in the combinationcircuit is captured by the scan FF from the normal operation input. Thisis called a “capture operation”. The operation result acquired in thecapture operation is shifted again by the scan FF and a response isobserved (unload). At the same time as this unload, the next testpattern is applied (loaded). By comparing the value unloaded by a tester(unload data) with an expected value, a scan test of the LSI isexecuted.

In the scan test, it is required that the number of shift cyclescorrespond to the number of scan FFs connected to the scan chain.Therefore, an extremely large number of test steps are required in thescan test. Further, in order to execute the scan test of the LSI, it isrequired to store test data including the expected value of the loaddata and the unload data required for the scan shift operation in amemory of the tester. When the number of test steps is too large, thetest data cannot be contained in the memory of the tester, and thus thenecessary test cannot be performed.

As one example of a design for testability (DFT) that reduces the amountof test data, a logic built-in self test (LBIST) has been proposed(Debaleena Das, Nur A. Touba, “Reducing test data volume usingexternal/LBIST hybrid test patterns”, International Test Conference2000). In the LBIST, the load data generated from a pseudo randompattern generator (PRPG) inside the circuit is supplied to the scanchain and the scan shift operation is performed, and the unload dataafter the capture operation is compressed by a response compressor(Multiple Input Signature Register: MISR) inside the circuit.

Therefore, while the scan test by the LBIST is being performed there isno need to apply the test data from an external tester and the test canbe executed by only supplying clocks. After the test is performed for adesired period of time, the value compressed by the MISR is observed bythe external tester, whereby it is determined whether there is afailure. Therefore, the only test data required for the external testeris a control sequence of the LBIST controller, initial values of thePRPG and the MISR, and an expected value of the value output from theMISR.

SUMMARY

In order to achieve a functional safety that complies with ISO 26262,i.e., the international standard for functional safety ofvehicle-mounted instruments, a Power-on Self-Test (POST) is required. Inthe POST, a test on a logical portion is performed in the LBIST due tothe limitation in the amount of test data. Since the test is performedupon application of random patterns in the LBIST, it is highly likelythat a large number of failures in the circuit may not be detected.Therefore, a test point circuit is typically inserted (Test PointInsertion: TPI) in order to increase the probability that the failure inthe circuit is detected when random numbers are applied. In the LBIST,the TPI needs to be performed a large number of times in order toincrease the fault coverage, which causes an increase in an areaoverhead (hereinafter this will be referred to as an area OH). Further,since there is a limitation in regard to an execution time of the POST,it is required to increase the fault coverage while reducing the testtime.

The other problems of the related art and the novel characteristics ofthe present invention will be made apparent from the descriptions of thespecification and the accompanying drawings.

According to one embodiment, a test point circuit constitutes a scanchain, and captures, in one capture operation period of a clocksequential test, a first operation result in a second capture clock thatcomes after a first capture clock, the first operation result havingbeen captured by a test point circuit at a previous stage or a laststage of the scan chain in the first capture clock.

A method, a device, or a system used in place of the circuit accordingto the above embodiment, a program that causes a computer to executesome of the processing of this circuit and the like are effective asaspects of the present invention.

According to the embodiment, it is possible to decrease the number oftest point circuits to be inserted necessary to accomplish the targetfault coverage, whereby it is possible to suppress the increase in thearea overhead and to reduce the test time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, advantages and features will be moreapparent from the following description of certain embodiments taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one example of a semiconductor devicecapable of executing an LBIST;

FIG. 2 is a diagram for describing an insertion of a control test pointcircuit;

FIG. 3 is a diagram for describing an insertion of an observation testpoint circuit;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an operation waveform example of a scantest;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an operation waveform example of a clocksequential test;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of a semiconductor device inwhich a test point circuit according to a first embodiment is inserted;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a fault coverage with respect to a scan testtime of the semiconductor device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another configuration of the test pointcircuit according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of a semiconductor device inwhich a test point circuit according to a second embodiment is inserted;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration of a semiconductor devicein which a test point circuit according to a third embodiment isinserted;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration of a test point circuitaccording to a fourth embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a configuration of a design device thatdesigns a semiconductor device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a design flow of the semiconductor deviceaccording to the embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a design flow of the semiconductor deviceaccording to the embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a configuration of a semiconductor devicein which a scan flip-flop for a sequential test according to a fifthembodiment is inserted;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a configuration of the scan flip-flop forthe sequential test according to the fifth embodiment;

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an operation waveform example of thesemiconductor device shown in FIG. 15;

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an operation waveform example of thesemiconductor device shown in FIG. 15;

FIG. 19 is a truth table of the scan flip-flop for the sequential testshown in FIG. 16;

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the scanflip-flop for the sequential test;

FIG. 21 is a truth table of the scan flip-flop for the sequential testshown in FIG. 20;

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing another configuration of the scan flip-flopfor the sequential test according to the fifth embodiment;

FIG. 23 is a truth table of the scan flip-flop for the sequential testshown in FIG. 22;

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing another configuration of the scan flip-flopfor the sequential test according to the fifth embodiment;

FIG. 25 is a truth table of the scan flip-flop for the sequential testshown in FIG. 24;

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing another configuration of the scan flip-flopfor the sequential test according to the fifth embodiment;

FIG. 27 is a truth table of the scan flip-flop for the sequential testshown in FIG. 26;

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing an operation waveform example of asemiconductor device in which the scan flip-flop for the sequential testshown in FIG. 24 or 26 is inserted;

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an operation waveform example of thesemiconductor device in which the scan flip-flop for the sequential testshown in FIG. 24 or 26 is inserted;

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing a configuration of a semiconductor devicein which a scan flip-flop for a sequential test according to a sixthembodiment is inserted;

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing a fault coverage with respect to a scantest time of the semiconductor device according to the sixth embodiment;

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing a configuration of a semiconductor devicein which a scan flip-flop for a sequential test according to a seventhembodiment is inserted;

FIG. 33 is a diagram showing a configuration of a semiconductor devicein which a scan flip-flop for a sequential test according to an eighthembodiment is inserted;

FIG. 34 is a diagram showing a configuration of a semiconductor devicein which a scan flip-flop for a sequential test according to a ninthembodiment is inserted;

FIG. 35 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the scanflip-flop for the sequential test used in the ninth embodiment;

FIG. 36 is a truth table of the scan flip-flop for the sequential testshown in FIG. 35;

FIG. 37 is a diagram showing a configuration of a semiconductor devicein which a scan flip-flop for a sequential test according to a tenthembodiment is inserted;

FIG. 38 is a diagram showing a configuration of a design device thatdesigns the semiconductor device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 39 is a diagram showing a design flow of the semiconductor deviceaccording to the embodiment; and

FIG. 40 is a diagram showing a configuration of a semiconductor devicein which a test point circuit and a scan flip-flop for a sequential testaccording to the embodiment are inserted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below withreference to the accompanying drawings. For the clarification of thedescription, the following description and the drawings may be omittedor simplified as appropriate. The specific values and the like describedin the following embodiments are merely examples to facilitate theunderstanding of the present invention and the present invention is notlimited to them unless otherwise stated. Throughout the drawings, thesame components are denoted by the same reference symbols andoverlapping descriptions will be omitted as appropriate.

Further, each element shown in the drawings as functional blocks thatperform various processing can be composed of a CPU, a memory, and othercircuits in hardware and may be implemented by programs loaded in thememory in software. Those skilled in the art will therefore understandthat these functional blocks may be implemented in various ways by onlyhardware, only software, or the combination thereof without anylimitation.

The embodiments relate to a semiconductor device capable of executing alogic built-in self test (LBIST), and a test point circuit and a designdevice of the semiconductor device used therefor. First, with referenceto FIG. 1, the semiconductor device capable of executing the LBIST willbe described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one example of thesemiconductor device capable of executing the LBIST. In the followingdescription, a combination circuit to be tested will be referred to as aDesign Under Test (DUT).

As shown in FIG. 1, a semiconductor device 1 includes a DUT 2, a pseudorandom pattern generator (hereinafter this will be referred to as aPRPG) 3, a response compressor (Multiple Input Signature Register:hereinafter this will be referred to as an MISR) 4, an LBIST controller5, and scan flip-flops (hereinafter they will be referred to as SFFs)10.

In the semiconductor device 1, the plurality of SFFs 10 are connected inserial, whereby a plurality of scan chains are constructed. In theexample shown in FIG. 1, five of the SFFs 10 are connected in one scanchain. The SFF 10 is a scan flip-flop for shifting capable of switchinga scan shift operation and a capture operation. The SFF 10 includes amultiplexer (MUX) 11, a flip-flop (FF) 12, a data input terminal DATA, ascan-in terminal SIN, a control input terminal SMC, a clock terminalCLK, and a data output terminal Q.

The MUX 11 receives a test signal input through the scan-in terminal SINand an operation result from the DUT 2 input through the data inputterminal DATA. The MUX 11 switches the scan shift operation and thecapture operation according to a scan enable signal input through thecontrol input terminal SMC (scan-enable). That is, the scan enablesignal is a control signal that switches the scan shift operation andthe capture operation.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, when the scan enable signal is high (1),the scan-in terminal SIN becomes active. Further, when the scan enablesignal is low (0), the data input terminal DATA becomes active. The FF12 captures the value output from the MUX 11 according to a clock signalinput through the clock terminal CLK (clock1 or clock2) and outputs thecaptured value to the scan-in terminal SIN of the subsequent SFF 10 fromthe data output terminal Q. While the example in which the clock signalssupplied to the respective scan chains are different from one another isshown in FIG. 1, the same clock signal may be supplied to the respectivescan chains.

The PRPG 3 is connected to the input side of the plurality of scanchains. The PRPG 3 generates a load data (test signal) in the LBIST andsupplies the load data (test signal) to the scan chains. The SFF 10outputs the test signal input through the scan-in terminal SIN to thesubsequent SFF 10 in a scan shift operation period. The scan chain issubjected to the shift operation, whereby arbitrary test patterns areset in the respective SFFs 10.

In the capture operation, the value set in each of the SFFs 10 in theshift operation period is supplied to the DUT 2 and the operation resultin the DUT 2 is captured by each of the SFFs 10. The MISR 4 is connectedto the output side of the plurality of scan chains. The MISR 4compresses unload data from the plurality of scan chains after thecapture operation. The result of the compression is called a“signature”. Further, the signature compressed by the MISR 4 is comparedwith an expected value by a control circuit in the circuit in the POSToperation and by an external tester when a manufactured product istested, whereby the presence or the absence of a failure is determined.

The LBIST controller 5 is connected to the PRPG 3 and the MISR 4. Aclock signal tck is supplied to each of the LBIST controller 5, the PRPG3, and the MISR 4. The LBIST controller 5 supplies an initial value tothe PRPG 3. The PRPG 3 generates the load data based on the initialvalue supplied from the LBIST controller 5 in synchronization with theclock signal tck. The initial value of the PRPG 3 can be arbitrarilyrewritten by a test data input signal tdi supplied from an externaldevice.

Further, the LBIST controller 5 outputs the result of the compressionperformed by the MISR 4 to the external tester as a test data outputsignal tdo. By comparing the result of the compression with an expectedvalue by the external tester after the test has been executed for adesired period of time, the presence or the absence of the failure ofthe DUT is determined.

A test point circuit is inserted in the semiconductor device 1 toincrease the probability that the failure in the circuit is detectedwhen random numbers are applied. The test point circuit is a logiccircuit that is inserted in order to improve the controllability and theobservability of signal lines and terminals in a circuit to be tested.

The “controllability” is a measure indicating how readily the internalstate of the DUT can be controlled from the external terminal.Specifically, the “controllability” means the minimum value of thenumber of signal lines in which logical values need to be set in orderto make the value of a signal line or a terminal included in the DUT be0 or 1. The “observability” is a measure indicating how readily theinternal state of the DUT can be observed in the external terminal.Specifically, the “observability” is the minimum value of the number ofsignal lines in which logical values need to be set in order topropagate a signal to an observation point.

By inserting the test point circuit in the circuit to be tested, it ispossible to increase the fault coverage in the DUT when random numbersare applied in the LBIST. The test point circuit that is inserted forthe purpose of improving the controllability will be referred to as acontrol test point circuit. The control test point circuit is a logiccircuit that serves as a control point at which the value of the signalline in the DUT can be set to 0 or 1. The control test point circuitincludes, for example, a combination circuit such as an AND gate, an ORgate and the like, an external input terminal, and a flip-flop.

Further, the test point circuit that is inserted in order to improve theobservability is an observation test point circuit. The observation testpoint circuit serves as an observation point at which the operationresult of the DUT can be observed. The observation test point circuitcorresponds to an external output terminal or the SFF. In the followingdescription, the test point may be abbreviated as TP. Further, theinsertion of the TP circuit into the signal line of the DUT for thepurpose of improving the testability may be abbreviated as a Test PointInsertion (TPI).

FIG. 2 is a diagram for describing the insertion of the control TPcircuit. In the example shown in FIG. 2, as shown by dashed lines, anAND gate, an OR gate, and a control ET are inserted into the signal linein which the probability that the value thereof is controlled to be 1 islow as the control TP circuit. By propagating the value from the controlFF, the probability that the part in which the AND gate and the OR gateare inserted is set to 1 can be increased, whereby it is possible toimprove the fault coverage.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for describing the insertion of the observation TPcircuit. In the example shown in FIG. 3, as shown by dashed lines, anobservation FF is inserted into a part in which the probability that thefailure is propagated to the end point FF is low as the observation TPcircuit. By connecting the observation FT in a fan-out manner, thefailure can be observed by the observation FF, whereby it is possible toimprove the fault coverage.

As described above, the TPI needs to be performed a large number oftimes in order to improve the fault coverage in the LBIST, whereby thearea OH increases. In view of this problem, the present inventors haveinvented a method of applying a clock sequential test (multi-cycle test)to the LBIST in order to reduce the number of TPs to be inserted or anLBIST execution time.

The clock sequential test is a scan test in which a plurality of captureclocks are input in one capture operation period and a response of thetest signal by the DUT 2 is captured in the plurality of capture clocks.With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, operation waveforms of the scan test ina single clock and the clock sequential test in a plurality of clockswill be described.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, the shift of the test signal in the scan shiftoperation period and the capturing of the operation result in thecapture operation period are performed in synchronization with clockedges of the test clock. In the following description, the test clock inthe capture operation period is referred to as a “capture clock”.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an operation waveform example of the scantest with respect to a single stuck-at fault model in which a singleclock is applied in one capture operation period. When the scan enablesignal is low (0), the operation result of the DUT 2 input through thedata input terminal DATA is captured. In the example shown in FIG. 4,only one capture clock is input in one capture operation period.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an operation waveform example of the clocksequential test in which a plurality of clocks are applied in onecapture operation period. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the captureclock is applied three times in one capture operation period. As shownin FIG. 5, similar to FIG. 4, when the scan enable signal is low (0),the operation result of the DUT 2 input through the data input terminalDATA is captured.

As described above, in the clock sequential test, it is possible tocapture the operation result of the DUT 2 in the plurality of captureclocks in one capture operation period. It is therefore possible towiden the range in which the failure is activated in one captureoperation period and to increase the number of failures that can bedetected. It is therefore possible to reduce the number of TPs needed tobe inserted in order to accomplish the target fault coverage or toreduce the LBIST execution time.

The observation FF used as the observation TP circuit described withreference to FIG. 3 has a configuration the same as that of the SFFdescribed with reference to FIG. 1 and is not provided for the clocksequential test. The present inventors have invented a test pointcircuit for a clock sequential test in order to further improve theeffect of the clock sequential test.

The test point circuit according to the embodiment constitutes the scanchain capable of executing the scan test of the LSI and performs theclock sequential test. The test point circuit according to theembodiment includes a logical structure capable of suppressing anincrease in the area overhead due to the insertion of the test point andincreasing the fault coverage while reducing the test time.Specifically, the test point circuit according to the embodimentcaptures, in one capture operation period of the clock sequential test,a first operation result that the previous test point circuit or thetest point circuit at the last stage has captured in a first captureclock in a second capture clock that comes after the first captureclock.

The semiconductor device using the test point circuit according to thisembodiment is applicable, for example, to products in which Power-onSelf-Test (POST) that complies with International Standard ISO 26262 isimplemented. Further, this semiconductor device is also applicable toproducts in which it is desired to reduce the testing cost when theLBIST is applied in a mass production test process or design devices(electronic design automation (EDA) tools) in which the LBIST isimplemented and the like.

First Embodiment

With reference to FIG. 6, a semiconductor device in which a test pointcircuit according to a first embodiment is inserted will be described.FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of a semiconductor device 1Aaccording to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, the semiconductordevice 1A includes a DUT 2, a. PRPG 3, an MISR 4, an LBIST controller 5,SFFs 10, and observation scan flip-flops (hereinafter they will bereferred to as observation SFFs) 20. In FIG. 6, the observation SFFs 20are shown as obsSFF. Since the configurations other than the observationSFFs 20 are the same as those described in FIG. 1, detailed descriptionsthereof will be omitted.

A plurality of scan chains are constructed in the semiconductor device1A. At least one of the plurality of scan chains is composed of only theobservation SFFs 20. In the example shown in FIG. 6, one scan chain iscomposed of only the observation SFFs 20 and the remaining scan chainsare composed of the SFFs 10. The scan chain composed of the SFFs 10 isconstituted separately from the scan chain composed of only theobservation SFFs 20.

In FIG. 6, the scan chain composed of the observation SFFs 20 is shownas a scan chain 6A. In the scan chain 6A, five observation SFFs 20 areconnected in serial. In each of the other scan chains, five SFFs 10 areconnected in serial.

The observation SFF 20 is an observation test point circuit inserted forthe purpose of improving the observability which brings an efficiencyimprovement effect in the clock sequential test. The observation SFF 20is inserted in the DUT 2 that outputs the operation result in accordancewith the test signal that is scanned in. The observation SFF 20 includesan XOR gate 21, an MUX 22, an FF 23, a data input terminal DATA, ascan-in terminal SIN, a control input terminal SMC, a clock terminalCLK, and a data output terminal Q. That is, the observation SFF 20 hasan input/output configuration similar to that of the SFF 10.

The output of the observation SFF 20 is connected to the scan-interminal SIN of the subsequent observation SFF 20, whereby the scanchain 6A is constituted. The observation SFF 20 is able to switch thescan shift operation and the capture operation.

The observation SFF 20 captures, in one capture operation period, theoperation result from the DUT 2 in each of the plurality of captureclocks. For example, the first capture clock applied in one captureoperation period is denoted by a first capture clock and the captureclock that follows the first capture clock is denoted by a secondcapture clock. Further, the operation result from the DUT 2 captured inthe first capture clock is denoted by a first operation result. Theperiod in which one capture clock pulse operation is performed in onecapture operation period is referred to as a capture cycle.

Note that the first capture clock may not be a capture clock that isapplied first in one capture operation period and may be a capture clockthat is applied after that. The second capture clock may be a captureclock that is applied after the first capture clock in one captureoperation period.

The operation result from the DUT 2 is input to the data input terminalDATA in the capture operation period. The test signal is input to thescan-in terminal SIN in the scan shift operation period and the firstoperation result that the previous observation SFF 20 of the scan chainhas captured in the first capture clock is input to the scan-in terminalSIN in the capture operation period.

The XOR gate 21 receives the signal input through the scan-in terminalSIN and the signal input through the data input terminal DATA. Further,the XOR gate 21 outputs the exclusive OR of the operation result fromthe DUT2 input through the data input terminal DATA and the firstoperation result input through the scan-in terminal SIN that theprevious observation SFF 20 of the scan chain has captured in the firstcapture clock.

The MUX 22 receives the signal input through the scan-in terminal SINand the signal output from the XOR gate 21. The MUX 22 switches the scanshift operation and the capture operation according to the scan enablesignal input through the control input terminal SMC. In the exampleshown in FIG. 6, the MUX 22 is in the scan shift operation when the scanenable signal is high (1) and the input through the scan-in terminal SINbecomes valid. Further, the MUX 22 is in the capture operation when thescan enable signal is low (0) and the output from the XOR gate 21becomes valid.

The FF 23 captures the value output from the MUX 22 according to theclock signal input through the clock terminal CLK (clock2) and outputsthe captured value to the scan-in terminal SIN of the subsequentobservation SFF 20 from the data output terminal Q. In the scan shiftoperation period, the FF 23 captures the test signal. Further, in thecapture operation period, the FF 23 captures the exclusive OR that theMUX 22 outputs in the second capture clock that comes after the firstcapture clock. That is, the first operation result that the previousobservation SFF 20 of the scan chain 6A has captured in the firstcapture clock is propagated to the subsequent observation SFF 20 in thesecond capture clock that comes after the first capture clock.

If the scan chain is composed of the SFFs 10 in place of the observationSFFs 20 in FIG. 6, in the clock sequential test, the operation resultthat has reached the data input terminal DATA of the observation SFF 20in the first capture clock is propagated to nowhere in the next secondcapture clock and disappears.

On the other hand, in the semiconductor device 1A according to the firstembodiment, the operation result that has reached the observation SFF 20in the first capture clock in one capture operation period is propagatedto the subsequent observation SFF 20 on the scan chain 6A via the XORgate 21 in the next second capture clock. As described above, in thesemiconductor device 1A, it is possible to increase the probability thatthe operation result that has reached the observation SFF 20 can beaccumulated in the next observation SFF 20 of the scan chain 6A withoutcausing the operation result to disappear in the next capture cycle.

Further, the observation SFF 20 is able to store the operation resultthat has reached the previous observation SFF 20 and to capture theoperation result from the DUT 2 via the XOR gate 21 from the data inputterminal DATA of the observation SFF 20 in each capture cycle.Therefore, when the capture clock is applied a plurality of times in onecapture operation period, the number of failures that can be detectedincreases. It is therefore possible to reduce the number of TPs to beinserted required to accomplish the target fault coverage. It istherefore possible to suppress the increase in the area overhead.

Further, by executing the clock sequential test in the semiconductordevice 1A of FIG. 6, a large number of failures can be detected in onecapture operation period, whereby it is possible to reduce the testtime. Since the scan shift operation time accounts for the most of thetest time in the scan test, even when the number of capture clocks inthe capture operation period is increased, this has little influence onthe test time.

With reference to FIG. 7, an effect of reducing the test time will bedescribed. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the fault coverage with respectto the test time. In FIG. 7, the horizontal axis indicates the test timeand the vertical axis indicates the fault coverage. Further, in FIG. 7,the solid line indicates the result of the semiconductor device 1A usingthe observation SFFs 20 according to the embodiment and the dashed lineindicates the result of the semiconductor device when the scan chain iscomposed of the SFFs 10 in place of the observation SFFs 20 of FIG. 6.

In the example shown in FIG. 7, the clock sequential test in which thecapture clock is applied ten times in one capture operation period hasbeen applied. As shown in FIG. 7, compared to the case in which the SFFs10 are used, the test time required to accomplish the target faultcoverage can be suppressed to half or less by using the observation SFFs20.

As described above, according to the embodiment, by forming the scanchain by the observation SFFs 20, it is possible to improve theefficiency of the clock sequential test in a low area OH without addinga special test circuit.

While the semiconductor device 1A shown in FIG. 6 is able to execute theLBIST and the PRPG 3 and the MISR 4 are implemented in the semiconductordevice 1A, the present invention is not limited to this example. Whilethe clock sequential test is highly effective in the LBIST, inparticular, in that it is possible to reduce the number of TPs to beinserted or to reduce the LBIST execution time, it provides a certaineffect also in the compression scan.

The compression scan is one example of a design for testability (DFT)that reduces the amount of test data. In the compression scan, the scanchains whose number is greater than that of the external terminals areconstructed inside, whereby the number of SFFs for each scan chain isreduced. Then the value supplied from the external input terminal isexpanded for the number corresponding to the number of scan chainsincluded inside via a decompressor, and the test pattern is applied tothe respective scan FFs. Further, the output from the scan chain iscompressed by the compressor and is observed in the external outputterminal.

In the compression scan, configuration values (care bits) of the scanFFs necessary for the detection of the failure may be supplied with asmall number of shift cycles and the respective scan FFs may be observedwith a small number of shift cycles. It is therefore possible toincrease the number of failures to be detected for one bit of theexternal input/output terminal and to reduce the amount of test data.The observation SFFs 20 according to this embodiment can also be appliedto a semiconductor device capable of executing a compression scan test.

In the semiconductor device capable of executing the compression scan, adecompressor and a compressor that can be controlled and observed fromoutside are connected in place of the PRPG 3 and the MISR 4 shown inFIG. 6. The semiconductor device capable of executing the compressionscan may also have a configuration similar to the configuration shown inFIG. 6, whereby it is possible to improve the efficiency of the clocksequential test.

While the clock signal supplied to the scan chain 6A (clock2) and theclock signal supplied to the other scan chains (clock1) are differentfrom each other in the example shown in FIG. 6, they may be the same.That is, the scan chain composed of the SFFs 10 and the scan chaincomposed of the observation SFFs 20 may be clock domains different fromeach other or may be the same clock domain.

FIG. 8 shows another example of the observation SFF 20. FIG. 8 is adiagram showing a configuration of another test point circuit 30according to the first embodiment. The observation SFF 30 is used inplace of the observation SFF 20 of the semiconductor device 1A shown inFIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 8, the observation SFF 30 includes a NOR gate31, an XOR gate 32, an FF 33, a data input terminal DATA, a scan-interminal SIN, a control input terminal SMC, a clock terminal CLK, and adata output terminal Q.

Similar to the scan chain 6A shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of observationSFFs 30 form one scan chain. Further, at least one of the plurality ofscan chains in the semiconductor device 1A is composed of only theobservation SFFs 30.

Similar to the observation SFF 20, the observation SFF 30 captures theoperation result from the DUT2 in each of the plurality of captureclocks in one capture operation period. The operation result from theDUT2 is input to the data input terminal DATA in the capture operationperiod. The test signal is input to the scan-in terminal SIN in the scanshift operation period and the first operation result that the previousobservation SFF 20 of the scan chain has captured in the first captureclock is input to the scan-in terminal SIN in the capture operationperiod.

The scan enable signal, which is a control signal that switches the scanshift operation and the capture operation, is input to the control inputterminal SMC. The NOR gate 31 receives the scan enable signal inputthrough the control input terminal SMC and the signal input through thedata input terminal DATA and outputs the negative OR in the captureoperation period. The XOR gate 32 receives the first operation resultinput to the scan-in terminal SIN and the negative OR from the NOR gate31 and outputs the exclusive OR thereof.

The FF 33 captures the value output from the XOR gate 32 according tothe clock signal input through the clock terminal CLK and outputs thecaptured value to the scan-in terminal SIN of the subsequent observationSFF 20 from the data output terminal Q. In the capture operation period,the FF 33 captures the exclusive OR output from the XOR gate 32 in thesecond capture clock that comes after the first capture clock.

In the scan shift operation period (scan enable signal=1), the value ofthe data input terminal DATA is interrupted and the test signal inputthrough the scan-in terminal SIN is captured by the FF 33. In thecapture operation period (scan enable signal=0), the value of the datainput terminal DATA is inverted and passes through. The XOR gate 32receives the value obtained by inverting the value of the data inputterminal DATA and the value of the scan-in terminal SIN. The FF 33captures the output value of the XOR gate 32 according to the clockterminal CLK. The FF 33 of the observation SFF 30 has a function similarto that of the FF 23 of the observation SFF 20 except that the capturedvalue is inverted.

When the observation SFF 30 is used, in the capture operation period,the value obtained by inverting the value input through the data inputterminal DATA is captured by the FF 33 via the XOR gate 32. Even in thecase in which the inverted value of the input of the data input terminalDATA is captured by the observation SFF 30, this has no influence on thescan test operation and the normal user operation.

In the clock sequential test, the first operation result that theprevious observation SFF 20 of the scan chain 6A has captured in thefirst capture clock is propagated to the subsequent observation SFF 20in the second capture clock that comes after the first capture clock. Itis therefore possible to improve the efficiency of the clock sequentialtest in the low area OH. Further, the area of the circuit and the delayin the observation SFF 30 are smaller than those in the observation SFF20. Therefore, by using the observation SFF 30 as the observation testpoint circuit, it is possible to further reduce the area OH and tosuppress the increase in the operation speed.

Second Embodiment

With reference to FIG. 9, a semiconductor device in which a test pointcircuit according to a second embodiment is inserted will be described.FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of a semiconductor device 1Baccording to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, thesemiconductor device 1B includes a DUT 2, a PRPG 3, an MISR 4, an LBISTcontroller 5, SFFs 10, observation SFFs 30, and an observation SFF 40.The observation SFFs 30 and the observation SFF 40 are observation testpoint circuits that are inserted for the purpose of improving theobservability and that give an efficiency improvement effect of theclock sequential test. In FIG. 9, the observation SFFs 30 are indicatedby obsSFFs and the observation SFF 40 is indicated by obsSFF 2.

In the semiconductor device 1B, at least one of the plurality of scanchains is composed of the observation SFFs 30 and the observation SFF40. In the example shown in FIG. 6, one scan chain is composed of theobservation SFFs 30 and the observation SFF 40 and the other scan chainsare composed of the SFFs 10. In FIG. 9, the scan chain composed of theobservation SFFs 30 and the observation SFF 40 is indicated by a scanchain 6B.

In the scan chain 6B, the observation SFF 40 is connected in the firststage and four observation SFFs 30 are connected in serial after theobservation SFF 40. The observation SFFs 30 may have the configurationshown in FIG. 8. While the observation SFFs 30 are used in the exampleshown in FIG. 9, the observation SFFs 20 shown in FIG. 6 may be used inplace of the observation SFFs 30. That is, in the scan chain 6B, theobservation SFF 40 and the four observation SFFs 20 may be connected inserial. While the configurations other than the observation SFFs 30 andthe observation SFF 40 are the same as those described in FIG. 6,detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

The output of the observation SFF 40 is connected to the scan-interminal SIN of the observation SFF 30. Further, the output of theobservation SFF 30 is connected to the scan-in terminal SIN terminal ofthe subsequent observation SFF 30, whereby the scan chain 6B isconstituted. The output of the observation SFF at the last stage isconnected to a data input terminal DATA2 of the observation SFF 40. Boththe observation SFF 40 and the observation SFF 30 are able to switch thescan shift operation and the capture operation. The observation SFF 40is able to capture, similar to the observation SFF 30, the operationresult from the DUT 2 in each of the plurality of capture clocks in onecapture operation period.

In the semiconductor device 1B according to the second embodiment, inthe clock sequential test, the failure that has propagated to theobservation SFF 30 at the last stage can be held on the scan chain 6B.As shown in FIG. 9, the observation SFF 40 includes an XOR gate 41, anMUX 42, an FF 43, a data input terminal DATA, a data input terminalDATA2, a scan-in terminal SIN, a control input terminal SMC, a clockterminal CLK, and a data output terminal Q.

The test signal is input to the scan-in terminal SIN in the scan shiftoperation period. The operation result from the DUT2 is input to thedata input terminal DATA in the capture operation period. Further, inthe capture operation period, the first operation result that theobservation SFF 30 at the last stage has captured in the first captureclock is input to the data input terminal DATA2. That is, theobservation SFF 40 includes data input terminals having two systems.

The XOR gate 41 receives the signal input through the data inputterminal DATA and the signal input through the data input terminalDATA2. The XOR gate 41 outputs the exclusive OR of the operation resultfrom the DUT 2 input through the data input terminal DATA and the firstoperation result input through the data input terminal DATA2 that theobservation SFF 30 at the last stage of the scan chain has captured inthe first capture clock.

The MUX 42 receives the signal input through the scan-in terminal SINand the signal output from the XOR gate 41. The MUX 42 switches the scanshift operation and the capture operation according to the scan enablesignal input through the control input terminal SMC. In the exampleshown in FIG. 9, the MUX 42 is in the scan shift operation when the scanenable signal is high (1) and the input through the scan-in terminal SINbecomes valid. Further, the MUX 42 is in the capture operation when thescan enable signal is low (0) and the output from the XOR gate 41becomes valid.

The FF 43 captures the value output from the MUX 42 according to theclock signal input through the clock terminal CLK (clock2) and outputsthe captured value to the scan-in terminal SIN of the subsequentobservation SFF 30 from the data output terminal Q.

In the scan shift operation period (scan enable signal=1), the FF 43captures the test signal input through the scan-in terminal SIN.Further, in the capture operation period (scan enable signal=0), the FF43 captures the exclusive OR of two data input terminals (DATA, DATA2)in the second capture clock that comes after the first capture clock.That is, the first operation result that the observation SFF 30 at thelast stage of the scan chain 6B has captured in the first capture clockis propagated to the observation SFF 20 at the first stage in the secondcapture clock that comes after the first capture clock.

As described above, according to the semiconductor device 1B accordingto the second embodiment, even when the capture clock is applied aplurality of times in one capture operation period in the clocksequential test, the failure captured by the observation SFF 30 at thelast stage of the scan chain 6B in one capture clock is propagated tothe observation SFF 40 at the first stage in the next capture clock andthe failure does not disappear.

For the convenience of the circuit configuration, in the clocksequential test, the MISR 4 may not be used in the capture operationperiod and the failure may not be observed in the external tester viathe compressor. In such a case, the operation result captured by theobservation SFF 30 at the last stage is propagated to nowhere when thenext capture clock is output and disappears.

As described in the second embodiment, when the circuit configurationshown in FIG. 9 is employed, the operation result captured by theobservation SFF 30 at the last stage can be propagated to theobservation SFF 40 at the first stage in the capture clock in the nextcapture cycle, whereby it is possible to prevent the operation resultfrom being disappeared.

In the scan chain 6B, each of the observation SFFs 30 connected afterthe observation SFF 40 captures the first operation result that theprevious observation SFF 40 or the observation SFF 30 has captured inthe first capture clock in the second capture clock, as described in thefirst embodiment. It is therefore possible to increase the number offailures that can be detected in one capture operation of the clocksequential test compared to that in the first embodiment. As a result,it is possible to reduce the number of TPs to be inserted necessary toaccomplish the target fault coverage or to reduce the LBIST executiontime.

Third Embodiment

With reference to FIG. 10, a semiconductor device in which a test pointcircuit according to a third embodiment is inserted will be described.FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration of a semiconductor device1C according to the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 10, thesemiconductor device 1C includes a DUT 2, a PRPG 3, an MISR 4C, an LBISTcontroller 5, SFFs 10, and observation SFFs 30. In the semiconductordevice 1C, in the clock sequential test, the failure propagated to theobservation SFF 30 at the last stage can be held by the MISR 4C.

In the semiconductor device 10, at least one of the plurality of scanchains is composed of only the observation SFFs 30. In the example shownin FIG. 6, one scan chain is composed of only the observation SFFs 30and the other scan chains are composed of the SFFs 10. In FIG. 10, thescan chain composed of only the observation SFFs 30 is shown by a scanchain 6C.

In the scan chain 6C, five observation SFFs 30 are connected in serial.The observation SFFs 30 have the configuration the same as that shown inFIG. 8. While the observation SFFs 30 are used in the example shown inFIG. 10, the observation SFFs 20 shown in FIG. 6 may be used in place ofthe observation SFFs 30.

In the capture operation period (scan enable signal=0), the firstoperation result that the observation SFF 30 at the last stage of thescan chain 6C has captured in the first capture clock is propagated tothe MISR 4C in the second capture clock that comes after the firstcapture clock. In the example shown in FIG. 10, the clock signal(clock2) is input to the MISR 4. The MISR 4C captures the value outputfrom the observation SFF 30 at the last stage in synchronization withthe clock signal (clock2).

The MISR 4C compresses the unload data from the plurality of scan chainsafter the capture operation and generates the signature. At the sametime, the MISR 4C is able to perform the compression operation bycapturing the value of the observation SFF 30 at the last stage duringthe capture operation period. That is, the MISR 4C is able to capturethe output value of the observation SFF 30 at the final stage for eachcapture cycle not only in the shift period but also when the captureclock is applied a plurality of times in the clock sequential test.

As described above, in each capture cycle, the failure that has reachedthe observation SFF 30 at the last stage can be captured by the MISR 4C,whereby the failure can be observed without causing the failure todisappear. It is therefore possible to increase the number of failuresthat can be detected during one capture operation period of the clocksequential test and to reduce the number of TPs to be inserted necessaryto accomplish the target fault coverage or to reduce the LBIST executiontime.

Fourth Embodiment

With reference to FIG. 11, a test point circuit according to a fourthembodiment will be described. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing aconfiguration of an observation SFF 50 according to the fourthembodiment. As shown in FIG. 11, the observation SFF 50 includes an XORgate 51, an MUX 52, an FF 53, a data input terminal DATA, a scan-interminal SIN, a control input terminal SMC, a clock terminal CLK, and adata output terminal Q.

The observation SFF 50 is an observation test point circuit that isinserted in order to improve the observability and that provides anefficiency improvement effect of the clock sequential test. Theobservation SFF 50 is an SFF cell including a self-loop structure of theXOR gate 51. The observation SFF 50 includes a function of holding thefailure that has reached the data input terminal DATA in the FF 53 ofthe observation SFF 50 when the plurality of capture clocks are appliedin the clock sequential test.

The XOR gate 51 receives the operation result of the DUT 2 input throughthe data input terminal DATA and the value output from the FF 53. Theexclusive OR of the XOR gate 51 is input to the MUX 52. Further, thetest signal input through the scan-in terminal SIN is input to the MUX52. The MUX 52 outputs one of the exclusive OR and the test signal tothe FF 53 according to the scan enable signal input through the controlinput terminal SMC.

In the scan shift operation period (scan enable signal=1), the value ofthe data input terminal DATA is interrupted and the test signal inputthrough the scan-in terminal SIN is captured by the FF 53. In thecapture operation period (scan enable signal=0), the exclusive OR of thevalue of the data input terminal DATA and the value output from the FF53 is captured by the FF 53.

The FF 53 captures the first operation result input through the datainput terminal DATA in the first capture clock in one capture operationperiod. Then, in the second capture clock that comes after the firstcapture clock, the FF 53 captures the exclusive OR of the value inputthrough the data input terminal DATA and the first operation result.

As described above, the failure captured by the FF 53 of the observationSFF 50 in one capture cycle may be captured by the FF 53 again via theXOR gate 51 of the self loop in the next capture cycle and may remainwithout disappearing. It is therefore possible to increase the number offailures that can be detected during one capture operation period of theclock sequential test. While the scan chain composed of only theobservation test point circuits needs to be constructed in the first tothird embodiments, in the observation SFF 50, it is possible to improvethe efficiency of the clock sequential test without depending on theconfiguration of the scan chain.

With reference to FIGS. 12 to 14, a design device 100 according to theembodiment will be described. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing aconfiguration of a design device that designs the semiconductor deviceaccording to the embodiment. FIGS. 13 and 14 are diagrams showing adesign flow of the semiconductor device according to the embodiment. Adesign device 100 designs the aforementioned semiconductor device inwhich the efficiency of the clock sequential test is high.

The design device 100 includes an arithmetic processing unit 110, astorage device 120, a control input device 130, and a display outputdevice 131. The arithmetic processing unit 110 is a device capable ofloading a program necessary for deigning the semiconductor device andexecuting each functional process required for the design and includes aCPU, a memory and the like. The arithmetic processing unit 110 includesa test point insertion program 111 and a scanning program 112.

The storage device 120 includes a net list 121, a functional library122, a test limitation DB 123, a test point inserted net list 124, atest point insertion information DB 125, and a scanned net list 126. Thestorage device 120 indicates a storage medium such as an HDD disc or amemory that stores information in the library and the net list. Thedesign device 100 generates the semiconductor device into which theobservation test point circuits described in the first to thirdembodiments are inserted by referring to the net list or the library ofthe storage device 120 using the program of the arithmetic processingunit 110.

The control input device 130 is a general term of a device that allows auser to operate the arithmetic processing unit 110 and the storagedevice 120 and includes a keyboard, a mouse and the like. The displayoutput device 131 is a device that allows the user to check theoperations of the arithmetic processing unit 110 and the storage device120 and includes a display and the like.

The net list 121 stores, besides cell information of the observationtest point circuits stated above, cell information of the AND gate, theOR gate, the XOR gate and the like, and connection information among theterminals and the like. The functional library stores functions of thecell and the like. The test limitation DB 123 stores informationnecessary for the circuit operation when the test is performed. Theinformation stored in the test limitation DB 123 includes, for example,information such as fixing the external output terminal to zero.

The arithmetic processing unit 110 executes the test point insertionprogram 111 by referring to the net list 121, the functional library122, and the test limitation DB 123, to thereby generate the test pointinserted net list 124 into which the observation test point circuits areinserted. The test point insertion program 111 includes, besides thegeneral function of inserting the test point, a function of insertingthe observation SFF 20, the observation SFF 30, or the observation SFF40 as the observation test point circuits.

Further, the arithmetic processing unit 110 executes the scanningprogram 112 by referring to the functional library 122, the testlimitation DB 123, the test point inserted net list 124, and the testpoint insertion information DB 125 to thereby generate the semiconductordevice in which the efficiency of the clock sequential test is high. Thetest point insertion information DB 125 stores test point insertioninformation including connection information or the like of the testpoint circuit that has been inserted.

The scanning program 112 includes, besides a function of constructingthe general scan chain, a function of constructing at least one scanchain of only the observation SFFs that have been inserted. The scanningprogram 112 constitutes, using the net list after the test point circuitis inserted, at least one scan chain of only the observation SFFs basedon the test point insertion information. The test point insertioninformation can be output from the test point insertion program 111 orcan be generated from the cell name of an instance of the test pointinserted net list.

Further, the scanning program 112 is also able to execute processing forconnecting the SFF or the obsSFF at the first stage of each scan chainto the PRPG 3 and processing for connecting the SFF or the obsSFF at thelast stage of each scan chain to the MISR 4. The arithmetic processingunit 110 is able to generate the scanned net list 126 of thesemiconductor device in which the efficiency of the clock sequentialtest is improved and the LBIST can be executed by executing the scanningprogram 112.

With reference now to FIGS. 13 and 14, a design flow of thesemiconductor device will be described. With reference first to FIG. 13,processing for generating the test point inserted net list will bedescribed. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing one example of algorithms forgenerating the test point inserted net list.

As shown in FIG. 13, first, predetermined information is input to thenet list 121, the functional library 122, and the test limitation DB 123(Step S11). After that, by analyzing the information that has beeninput, circuit information and test limitation information areidentified (Step S12). In this step, information on the SFFs in thecircuit, the user FFs including the shift register structure, testlimitation information and the like are acquired. In the test limitationinformation, the target number of test point circuits to be inserted(target insertion number) is defined.

The controllability and the observability of the logic circuit in arandom number base in a general TPI algorithm are analyzed based on theinformation on the SFFs that has been identified (Step S13). Theposition in which the control test point circuit and the observationtest point circuit are inserted is selected based on the result of theanalysis in Step S13 (Step S14).

After that, the position in which the test point circuit is inserted isselected until the time the number of positions reaches the targetinsertion number defined as the test limitation information (Step S15).When the number of positions does not reach a threshold of the insertionnumber (NO in Step S15), processing from S13 to S15 is repeated. Whenthe number of positions has reached the target insertion number (YES inStep S15), the observation SFFs are inserted into the position that hasbeen selected. Note that the observation SFF 20, the observation SFF 30,or the observation SFF 40 is inserted into the observation point (StepS16). After that, the test point inserted net list is output (Step S17).The processing for generating the test point inserted net list is thuscompleted.

With reference next to FIG. 14, processing for generating the scannednet list will be described. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing one example ofalgorithms for generating the scanned net list. As shown in FIG. 14,first, predetermined information is input to the net list 121, thefunctional library 122, the test limitation DB 123, and the test pointinsertion information DB 125 (Step S21). After that, by analyzing theinput information, the circuit information and the test limitationinformation are identified (Step S22). The SFFs in the circuit and theobservation SFFs corresponding to the clock sequential test areidentified from the circuit information that has been identified (StepS23).

After that, at least one scan chain is constructed by the observationSFFs that have been identified (Step S24). The arithmetic processingunit 110 executes, in the scan chain composed of the observation SFFs,processing for connecting only the observation SFFs 20 or theobservation SFFs 30 in serial, as described in the first embodiment.Alternatively, in the arithmetic processing unit 110, the observationSFF 40 is connected at the first stage and the observation SFFs 20 orthe observation SFFs 30 are connected after the observation SFF 40, asdescribed in the second embodiment. In the latter case, the output ofthe observation SFF at the last stage is connected to the data inputterminal DATA2 of the observation SFF 40 at the first stage. Byconstructing the scan chain by the observation SFFs as stated above, thenumber of failures that can be detected during one capture operationperiod of the clock sequential test can be increased.

Besides the scan chain composed of the observation SFFs, the scan chainis constructed by the SFFs (Step S25). The scanned net list is thereforeoutput (Step S26) and the processing for generating the scanned net listis completed. By using the scanned net list generated as stated above,the number of failures that can be detected during one capture operationperiod of the clock sequential test can be increased and it is possibleto design the circuit capable of reducing the number of TPs to beinserted necessary to accomplish the target fault coverage or reducingthe test execution time.

After the scan chain is constructed in FIG. 14, the arithmeticprocessing unit 110 executes a general compression circuit additionprogram to thereby add the LBIST circuit such as the PRPG 3, the MISR 4,the LBIST controller 5 and the like that execute the LBIST. When thesemiconductor device according to the third embodiment is designed, theMISR 4 capable of capturing the output from the observation SFF in onecapture operation period of the clock sequential test is inserted intothe output side of the observation SFF at the last stage of the scanchain. The MISR 4 is therefore able to capture the operation result thatthe observation SFF inserted in the last stage of the scan chain hascaptured in the first capture clock in one capture operation in the nextsecond capture clock. When the compression scan test is performed, thearithmetic processing unit 110 adds a decompressor, a compressor and thelike to execute the compression scan.

The arithmetic processing unit 110 then executes a general test patterngeneration program for the circuit generated by the compression circuitaddition program to thereby generate the test pattern to execute theclock sequential test. It is therefore possible to accomplish the targetdetection rate in a short test time as shown in FIG. 7.

It is also possible to design the logic circuit in which the efficiencyof the clock sequential test is high using the observation SFF 50 usingthe design device 100 shown in FIG. 12. The design device 100 executesthe test point insertion program 111 and inserts the observation SFF 50into the observation point. The design device 100 does not construct thescan chain by the observation SFF 50 and constructs the scan chain bythe SFF 10. That is, the design device 100 does not perform processingof Step S24 in FIG. 14 and performs processing of Step S25. As describedabove, by using the observation SFF 50, there is no need to provide afunction of the program for constructing the scan chain composed of onlythe observation SFF 50.

The above program can be stored and provided to a computer using anytype of non-transitory computer readable media. Non-transitory computerreadable media include any type of tangible storage media. Examples ofnon-transitory computer readable media include magnetic storage media(such as flexible disks, magnetic tapes, hard disk drives, etc.),optical magnetic storage media (e.g., magneto-optical disks), CompactDisc Read Only Memory (CD-ROM), CD-R, CD-R/W, and semiconductor memories(such as mask ROM, Programmable ROM (PROM), Erasable PROM (EPROM), flashROM, Random Access Memory (RAM), etc.). The program may be provided to acomputer using any type of transitory computer readable media. Examplesof transitory computer readable media include electric signals, opticalsignals, and electromagnetic waves. Transitory computer readable mediacan provide the program to a computer via a wired communication line(e.g., electric wires, and optical fibers) or a wireless communicationline.

As described above, according to the embodiment, a structure in whichthe XOR output of the scan input and the data input is input to theflip-flop in one capture operation period of the clock sequential testis included, whereby it is possible to capture the propagation of thefailure that has reached the data input and the scan input. It istherefore possible to hold and compress the failure that has reached theflip-flop in each capture cycle without causing the failure to disappearwhen the capture clock is applied a plurality of times in the clocksequential test. It is therefore possible to reduce the test time toreach the target fault coverage.

Note that the test point circuit according to the embodiment may beexpressed as the following Supplementary Notes. The test point circuitdescribed below corresponds to FIG. 11.

(Supplementary Note 1)

A test point circuit that is inserted into a combination circuit, thecombination circuit outputting an operation result in accordance with atest signal that is scanned in, the test point circuit comprising:

a flip-flop that captures a first operation result from the combinationcircuit in a first capture clock in one capture operation period of aclock sequential test; and

an XOR gate that outputs an exclusive OR of the first operation resultand a second operation result from the combination circuit to theflip-flop;

wherein the flip-flop captures the exclusive OR in a second captureclock that comes after the first capture clock.

(Supplementary Note 2)

A design device of a semiconductor device including an arithmeticprocessing unit capable of executing predetermined processing inaccordance with a program that has been set in advance, wherein:

the semiconductor device comprises:

-   -   a scan flop-flop that constitutes a scan chain; and    -   the test point circuit according to Supplementary Note 1, and

the arithmetic processing unit executes processing for analyzing theprobability that the operation result from the combination circuitbecomes a predetermined logic state,

the arithmetic processing unit selects a position in which the testpoint circuit is to be inserted based on the result of the analysisprocessing,

the arithmetic processing unit inserts the test point circuit into theselected position, and

the arithmetic processing unit does not execute construction of the scanchain by the test point circuit when the scan chain is constructed bythe scan flip-flop.

In the above embodiment, the example of inserting the test point circuit(TPI) and performing the clock sequential test (multi-cycle test) inorder to improve the fault coverage in the semiconductor device capableof executing the LBIST has been described.

In the following embodiment, an example of performing the clocksequential test in order to reduce the test execution time withoutinserting the test point circuit in the semiconductor device capable ofexecuting the LBIST will be described.

As described above, the clock sequential test is a multi-cycle test thatcaptures the operation result from the combination circuit in aplurality of capture clocks in one capture operation period. The clocksequential test is effective for reducing the LBIST execution time evenwhen the test point circuit is not inserted.

In the following embodiment as well, the schematic configuration of thesemiconductor device capable of executing the LBIST is the same as theconfiguration of the semiconductor device shown in FIG. 1. Therefore, adetailed description thereof will be omitted. Further, the operationwaveform example of the clock sequential test by the plurality of clocksis already described with reference to FIG. 5.

The SFF 10 used in FIG. 1 is not provided for the clock sequential test.The present inventors have invented the scan flip-flop for thesequential test (hereinafter this will be referred to as an seqSFF) forthe clock sequential test used in place of the SFF 10 shown in FIG. 1 inorder to further improve the effect of the clock sequential test.

The scan flip-flop for the sequential test according to this embodimentconstitutes the scan chain capable of executing the scan test of the LSIand performs the clock sequential test. The seqSFF according to theembodiment has a logical structure capable of reducing the testexecution time and increasing the fault coverage.

Specifically, the seqSFF according to the embodiment includes a testenable input terminal to which the test enable signal is input. TheseqSFF captures, in accordance with the test enable signal, in onecapture operation period of the clock sequential test, in the secondcapture clock that comes after the first capture clock, the firstoperation result from the combination circuit that the first cell whichis provided before the scan flip-flop for the sequential test in thescan chain or at the last stage of the scan chain has captured in thefirst capture clock.

The semiconductor device using the seqSFF according to the embodimentcan be applied, for example, to products in which the POST isimplemented. Further, this semiconductor device is also applicable toproducts in which it is desired to reduce the testing cost when theLBIST is applied in a mass production test process or design devices(EDA tools) in which the LBIST is implemented and the like.

Fifth Embodiment

With reference to FIGS. 15 and 16, a scan flip-flop for a sequentialtest (seqSFF) used in a semiconductor device that executes the clocksequential test will be described. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing aconfiguration of the semiconductor device in which the seqSFF accordingto a fifth embodiment is inserted. A semiconductor device 1D shown inFIG. 15 includes a minimum configuration capable of holding the failurethat has reached the SFF 10 when the plurality of clocks are applied inthe clock sequential test without causing the failure to disappear alsoin the next capture cycle. FIG. 15 shows only the minimum configurationof the semiconductor device 1D for describing an seqSFF 60.

As shown in FIG. 15, the semiconductor device 1D includes a DUT 2, anSFF 10, and an seqSFF 60. The seqSFF 60 is connected in serial after theSFF 10, whereby one scan chain is constructed. Since the configurationsof the DUT 2 and the SFF 10 are the same as those described withreference to FIG. 1, descriptions thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a configuration of the seqSFF 60 accordingto the fifth embodiment. As shown in FIG. 16, the seqSFF 60 includes anNOR gate 61, a NAND gate 62, an XOR gate 63, an FF 64, a data inputterminal DATA, a control input terminal SMC, a scan-in terminal SIN, atest enable input terminal SEQ_TEST_EN, a clock terminal CLK, and a dataoutput terminal Q. The input/output configuration of the seqSFF 60 isthe same as that of the SFF 10 except for the test enable input terminalSEQ_TEST_EN. That is, the seqSFF 60 includes the test enable inputterminal SEQ_TEST_EN in addition to the input/output configuration ofthe SFF 10.

The output of the SFF 10 is connected to the scan-in terminal SIN of theseqSFF 60. The seqSFF 60 is able to switch the normal user operation andthe scan test operation. The seqSFF 60 is further able to switch thescan shift operation and the capture operation in the scan testoperation period. The seqSFF 60 captures the operation result from theDUT 2 by each of the plurality of capture clocks in one captureoperation period.

For example, the first capture clock applied in one capture operationperiod is referred to as a first capture clock and the capture clockthat comes after the first capture clock is referred to as a secondcapture clock. Further, the operation result from the DUT2 captured bythe first capture clock is referred to as a first operation result. Theperiod in which one capture clock pulse operation is performed in onecapture operation period is referred to as a capture cycle.

Note that the first capture clock may not be a capture clock that isapplied first in one capture operation period and may be a capture clockthat is applied after that. The second capture clock may be a captureclock that is applied after the first capture clock in one captureoperation period.

The operation result from the DUT 2 is input to the data input terminalDATA in the capture operation period. The test signal is input to thescan-in terminal SIN in the scan shift operation period and the firstoperation result that the previous SFF 10 of the scan chain has capturedin the first capture clock is input to the scan-in terminal SIN in thecapture operation period.

A test enable signal (seq_test_enable) is input to the test enable inputterminal SEQ_TEST_EN. The seqSFF 60 switches the normal user operationand the scan test operation in accordance with the test enable signal.For example, when the test enable signal is low (0), the user operationis selected and when the test enable signal is high (1), the scan testoperation is selected.

A scan enable signal (scan_enable) is input to the control inputterminal SMC. The seqSFF 60 switches the scan shift operation and thecapture operation in accordance with the scan enable signal. When thetest enable signal is high (1) and the scan enable signal is high (1),the scan shift operation is selected and when the scan enable signal islow (0), the capture operation is selected.

The NOR gate 61 receives the scan enable signal input through thecontrol input terminal SMC (scan-enable) and the signal input throughthe data input terminal DATA and outputs the negative OR thereof. TheNAND gate 62 receives the first operation result input to the scan-interminal SIN and the test enable signal and outputs the negative ANDthereof. The XOR gate 63 receives the negative OR from the NOR gate 61and the negative AND from the NAND gate 62 and outputs the exclusive ORthereof.

The FF 64 captures, in accordance with the clock signal (clock) inputfrom the clock terminal CLK, the value output from the XOR gate 63 andoutputs the captured value from the data output terminal Q. In the scanshift operation period, the FF 64 captures the test signal. Further, inthe capture operation period, the FF 64 captures the exclusive OR thatthe XOR gate 63 outputs in the second capture clock that comes after thefirst capture clock. That is, the first operation result that theprevious SFF 10 of the scan chain has captured in the first captureclock is propagated to the subsequent seqSFF 60 in the second captureclock that comes after the first capture clock.

Now, an operation of the semiconductor device 1D will be described.FIGS. 17 and 18 are diagrams each showing an operation waveform exampleof the semiconductor device ID according to FIG. 15. As shown in FIG.17, in the user operation, the scan enable signal is set to 0 (constantLOW) and the test enable signal is set to 0 (constant LOW). At thistime, both the SFF 10 and the seqSFF 60 capture the value input throughthe data input terminal DATA.

As shown in FIG. 18, in the scan test operation, the test enable signalis set to 1 (constant HIGH). In the scan test operation, in the scanshift operation period, the scan enable signal is set to 1 (HIGH). Atthis time, the SFF 10 and the seqSFF 60 capture the value from thescan-in terminal SIN and the scan shift operation is performed.

In the scan test operation, the scan enable signal is set to 0 (LOW) inthe capture operation period. At this time, the SFF 10 captures thevalue from the data input terminal DATA and the seqSFF 60 captures theexclusive OR of the values from the scan-in terminal SIN and the datainput terminal DATA. FIG. 19 shows a truth table of the scan flip-flopfor the sequential test shown in FIG. 16. The seqSFF 60 includes aconfiguration that satisfies the functions shown in the truth tableshown in FIG. 19.

Consider a case in which the capture clock is applied twice in the clocksequential test. It is assumed that the SFF 10 captures the influence ofthe propagation of a failure in the first capture cycle. That is, theoutput values of the data output terminal Q of the SFF 10 after thefirst capture clock is applied are inverted to each other between thecase in which the normal operation is performed and the case in which afailure occurs.

Since the seqSFF 60 captures the exclusive OR of the value from the datainput terminal DATA and the value from the scan-in terminal SIN in thesecond capture cycle, when the value of the data output terminal Q ofthe SFF 10 has been inverted, the value that the seqSFF 60 captures isalso inverted. As stated above, the failure captured by the SFF 10 inthe first capture cycle is held by the seqSFF 60 in the second capturecycle.

Consider a case in which the scan chain is composed of the SFF 10 inplace of the seqSFF 60 in FIG. 15. In the clock sequential test, theoperation result that has reached the data input terminal DATA in theprevious SFF 10 in the first capture clock is propagated to nowhere inthe next second capture clock and disappears unless it reaches thesubsequent SFF 10 via the DUT 2. The probability that the operationresult disappears increases as the number of logic gates increases.Since there are a large number of logic gates in a general logic, theprobability that the failure can be held after application of theplurality of capture clocks is low.

On the other hand, in the semiconductor device 1D according to the fifthembodiment, the operation result that has reached the SFF 10 in thefirst capture clock in one capture operation period is propagated to thesubsequent seqSFF 60 on the scan chain in the next second capture clock.As described above, in the semiconductor device 1D, it is possible toincrease the fault coverage when the capture clock is applied aplurality of times.

Further, by executing the clock sequential test in the semiconductordevice 1D, a large number of failures can be detected in one captureoperation period, whereby it is possible to reduce the test time.

The structure of the seqSFF 60 is not limited to the logical structureshown in FIG. 16. The seqSFF 60 may have any structure as long as thefunctions shown in the truth table shown in FIG. 21 are satisfied by theschematic configuration of the scan flip-flop for the sequential testshown in FIG. 20.

That is, when the scan enable signal is 0 and the test enable signal is0, the value of the data input terminal DATA is captured. When the scanenable signal is 0 and the test enable signal is 1, the exclusive OR ofthe data input terminal DATA and the value of the scan-in terminal SIN

DATA⊕SIN

or the negative exclusive OR of the data input terminal DATA and thevalue of the scan-in terminal SIN

(DATA⊕SIN)is captured.

When the scan enable signal is 1, regardless of the value of the testenable signal, the negative value of the value of the scan-in terminalSIN (SIN) or the value of the scan-in terminal SIN

SINis captured.

FIGS. 22, 24, and 26 show other logic circuit examples of the seqSFF 60that satisfy the truth table shown in FIG. 21. FIGS. 23, 25, and 27respectively show the truth table of an seqSFF 60A shown in FIG. 22, thetruth table of an seqSFF 60B shown in FIG. 24, and the truth table of anseqSFF 60C shown in FIG. 23.

The seqSFF 60A shown in FIG. 22 includes an NOR gate 61, an XOR gate 63,an FF 64, and an OR gate 65. The NOR gate 61 receives the scan enablesignal input through the control input terminal SMC (scan-enable) andthe signal input through the data input terminal DATA and outputs thenegative OR thereof.

The OR gate 65 has one input terminal that is a negative logic. The ORgate 65 receives the value from the scan-in terminal SIN and thenegative logic of the test enable signal and outputs the OR thereof. TheXOR gate 63 receives the negative OR from the NOR gate 61 and the ORfrom the OR gate 65 and outputs the exclusive OR thereof. The FF 64captures the value output from the XOR gate 63 and outputs the capturedvalue from the data output terminal Q.

The operation waveform of the seqSFF 60A shown in FIG. 22 is the same asthe operation waveform shown in FIGS. 17 and 18. That is, as shown inFIG. 17, in the user operation, the scan enable signal is set to 0(constant LOW) and the test enable signal is set to 0 (constant LOW).Further, as shown in FIG. 18, in the scan test operation, the testenable signal is set to 1 (constant HIGH). In the scan test operation,in the scan shift operation period, the scan enable signal is set to 1(HIGH).

As described above, even when the configuration shown in FIG. 22 isemployed, in the capture operation period, the first operation resultthat the previous SFF 10 of the scan chain has captured in the firstcapture clock is propagated to the subsequent seqSFF 60 in the secondcapture clock that comes after the first capture clock.

The seqSFF 60B shown in FIG. 24 includes an NOR gate 61, an NAND gate62, an XOR gate 63, an FF 64, and an OR gate 66. The NOR gate 61receives the scan enable signal input through the control input terminalSMC (scan-enable) and the signal input through the data input terminalDATA and outputs the negative OR thereof.

The OR gate 66 outputs the OR of the scan enable signal and the testenable signal. The NAND gate 62 receives the value from the scan-interminal SIN and the OR from the OR gate 66 and outputs the negative ANDthereof. The XOR gate 63 receives the negative OR from the NOR gate 61and the negative AND from the NAND gate 62 and outputs the exclusive ORthereof. The FF 64 captures the value output from the XOR gate 63 andoutputs the captured value from the data output terminal Q.

The seqSFF 60C shown in FIG. 26 includes an XOR gate 67, an MUX 68, anMUX 69, and an FF 64. The XOR gate 67 receives the value from the datainput terminal DATA and the value from the scan-in terminal SIN andoutputs the exclusive OR thereof. The MUX 68 receives the value from thedata input terminal DATA and the exclusive OR from the XOR gate 67. Inthe MUX 68, the value from the data input terminal DATA becomes validwhen the test enable signal is low (0) and the value from the XOR gate67 becomes valid when the test enable signal is high (1).

The value from the MUX 68 is input to the MUX 69. Further, the MUX 69receives the value from the scan-in terminal SIN. In the MUX 69, thevalue from the MUX 68 becomes valid when the scan enable signal is low(0) and the value from the scan-in terminal SIN becomes valid when thescan enable signal is high (1). The FF 64 captures the value output fromthe MUX 69 and outputs the captured value from the data output terminalQ.

FIGS. 28 and 29 show operation waveforms of the semiconductor device inwhich the seqSFFs 60B shown in FIG. 24 and the seqSFFs 60C shown in FIG.26 are inserted. As shown in FIG. 28, in the user operation, the scanenable signal is set to 0 (constant LOW). At this time, the test enablesignal may have any value of 0 and 1 (don't care).

As shown in FIG. 29, in the scan test operation, in the captureoperation period, the scan enable signal is set to 0 (LOW) and the testenable signal is set to 1 (HIGH). In the scan test operation, in thescan shift operation period, the scan enable signal is set to 1 (HIGH).At this time, the test enable signal may have any value of 0 and 1(don't care).

As described above, a structure in which the exclusive OR or thenegative exclusive OR of the value of the scan-in terminal SIN and thevalue of the data input terminal DATA is captured is included, wherebyit is possible to concurrently capture the failures that have reachedthe scan-in terminal SIN and the data input terminal DATA. It istherefore possible to hold the failure that has reached the seqSFF 60 ineach capture cycle when the capture clock is applied a plurality oftimes in the clock sequential test. As a result, the number of failuresthat can be detected in one capture period increases, whereby it ispossible to reduce the test time to accomplish the target detectionrate.

Sixth Embodiment

With reference to FIG. 30, a semiconductor device in which a scanflip-flop for a sequential test (seqSFF) is inserted according to asixth embodiment will be described. FIG. 30 is a diagram showing aconfiguration of a semiconductor device 1E in which the seqSFF accordingto the sixth embodiment is inserted.

As shown in FIG. 30, the semiconductor device 1E includes a DUT 2, aPRPG 3, an MISR 4, an LBIST controller 5, and a plurality of seqSFFs 60.Since the configurations of the components other than the seqSFFs 60 arethe same as those described with reference to FIG. 1, detaileddescriptions thereof will be omitted.

The semiconductor device 1E includes one or more scan chains. In theexample shown in FIG. 30, each of the scan chains is composed of onlythe seqSFFs 60. In FIG. 30, one scan chain composed of the seqSFFs 60 isindicated by a scan chain 6D. In the scan chain 6D, five seqSFFs 60 areconnected in serial.

The configuration of the seqSFF 60 is the same as that shown in FIG. 16.In place of the seqSFF 60, the seqSFF having another configuration thatsatisfies the functions of the truth table shown in FIG. 21 may be used.

A scan enable signal is input to the control input terminal SMC of eachof the seqSFFs 60. Further, a test enable signal is input to the testenable input terminal SEQ_TEST_EN of each of the seqSFFs 60. The testenable input terminal SEQ_TEST_EN is not necessarily controlled by theexternal input terminal and may be controlled by a test mode register orthe like.

In the user operation, the test enable signal is set to 0 and the scanenable signal is set to 0. The scan enable signal=0 and the test enablesignal=0 are respectively supplied to the control input terminal SMC andthe test enable input terminal SEQ_TEST_EN of each seqSFF 60.Accordingly, the value input through the scan-in terminal SIN isinterrupted and the seqSFF 60 captures the value from the data inputterminal DATA.

In the scan test operation, the test enable signal is set to 1. In thescan shift operation period, the scan enable signal is set to 1. Each ofthe seqSFFs 60 captures the value from the scan-in terminal SIN, wherebythe scan shift operation is performed. In the capture operation, thescan enable signal is set to 0. Each seqSFF 60 captures the exclusive ORof the value from the data input terminal DATA and the value from thescan-in terminal SIN.

Therefore, when the capture clock is applied a plurality of times by theclock sequential test, the failure that has reached the seqSFF 60 in onecapture cycle is captured by the subsequent seqSFF 60 on the scan chainvia the scan-in terminal SIN in the next capture cycle.

When the number of stages of the scan chain 6D is N, for example, thefailure captured by the top seqSFF 60 may be held by the seqSFF 60 onthe scan chain 6D until the time when the capture clock is applied Ntimes at maximum. As a result, it is possible to increase the number offailures that can be detected during the capture operation period in theclock sequential test.

With reference to FIG. 31, an effect of reducing the test time will bedescribed. FIG. 31 is a diagram showing the fault coverage with respectto the test time of the semiconductor device 1E according to the sixthembodiment. In FIG. 31, the horizontal axis indicates the test time andthe vertical axis indicates the fault coverage. Further, in FIG. 31, thesolid line shows the result of the semiconductor device 1E that uses theseqSFFs 60 according to the embodiment and the dashed line shows theresult of the semiconductor device when the scan chain is composed ofthe SFFs 10 in place of the seqSFFs 60 shown in FIG. 30.

As shown in FIG. 31, in the semiconductor device 1E according to thesixth embodiment, the seqSFFs 60 are used, whereby it is possible toaccomplish the target fault coverage in the test time shorter than thatwhen the SFFs 10 are used.

Seventh Embodiment

With reference to FIG. 32, a semiconductor device in which a scanflip-flop for a sequential test (seqSFF) according to a seventhembodiment is inserted will be described. FIG. 32 is a diagram showing aconfiguration of a semiconductor device 1F in which the seqSFF accordingto the seventh embodiment is inserted.

In the semiconductor device 1F shown in FIG. 32, some SFFs aresubstituted with the seqSFFs 60 in a general LBIST configuration. AnseqSFF having another configuration that satisfies the truth table shownin FIG. 21 may be used in place of the seqSFF 60. In FIG. 32, “FF”indicates a flip-flop that does not have a scan function such as ascan-in or a scan-out. In this example, the flip-flop that does not havethe scan function is referred to as a normal flip-flop (hereinafter thiswill be referred to as a normal FF).

The semiconductor device 1F includes one or more scan chains. In theexample shown in FIG. 32, a shift register structure 7A in the userlogic is incorporated into at least one scan chain 6E among theplurality of scan chains. In the shift register structure 7A, the toppart is substituted with the seqSFF 60 and two normal FFs are connectedin serial after the seqSFF 60. In the scan chain 6E, the seqSFFs 60 arearranged before and after the shift register structure 7A.

The data output terminal Q of the previous seqSFF 60 is connected to thescan-in terminal SIN of the seqSFF 60 of the shift register structure7A. The operation result from the DUT 2 that the seqSFF 60 at the top ofthe shift register structure 7A captures is directly captured by thesubsequent normal FF. Further, the data output terminal Q of the normalFF at the last stage of the shift register structure 7A is connected tothe input to the DUT 2 and the scan-in terminal SIN of the subsequentseqSFF 60 on the scan chain 6E.

Further, in the example shown in FIG. 32, a shift register structure 7Bincluding one seqSFF and one normal FF and a shift register structure 7Cincluding one seqSFF and two normal FFs are constituted in the userlogic. The shift register structure 7B and the shift register structure7C constitute one scan chain.

In the shift register structure 7B, the normal FF is connected in serialafter the seqSFF 60. In the shift register structure 7C, two normal FFsare connected in serial after the seqSFF 60. The data output terminal Qof the normal FF of the shift register structure 7B is connected to theinput to the DUT 2 and the scan-in terminal SIN of the seqSFF 60 of theshift register structure 7C.

While not shown in FIG. 32, the FFs other than the shift registerstructure are substituted with the seqSFFs 60. The output of the seqSFF60 or the shift register structure is connected to the scan-in terminalSIN of the seqSFF 60 connected thereafter. The scan chain is thusconstituted. In the shift register structures 7A to 7C and the othershift register structures, the scan shift operation is performed,similar to the case in which the scan chain is composed of the SFFs.

Similar to the sixth embodiment, the scan enable signal is input to thecontrol input terminal SMC of each seqSFF 60 also in the seventhembodiment. Further, the test enable signal is input to the test enableinput terminal SEQ_TEST_EN of each seqSFF 60.

In the seventh embodiment, when the capture clock is applied a pluralityof times in the clock sequential test, the failure that has reached theseqSFF 60 at the top of the shift register structure in one capturecycle is propagated to the subsequent normal FF of the shift registerstructure without any loss in the next capture cycle. It is thereforepossible to improve the efficiency of the clock sequential test.

Further, in the seventh embodiment, the normal FFs other than the top ofthe shift register structure are directly incorporated into the scanchain. It is therefore possible to suppress the increase in the areacompared to the case in which all the FFs are substituted with theflip-flops including the scan function.

Eighth Embodiment

With reference to FIG. 33, a semiconductor device in which a scanflip-flop for a sequential test (seqSFF) according to an eighthembodiment is inserted will be described. FIG. 33 is a diagram showing aconfiguration of a semiconductor device 1G in which the seqSFF accordingto the eighth embodiment is inserted.

Some user FFs in the circuit do not contribute to the improvement in theefficiency of the clock sequential test even when they are substitutedwith the seqSFFs 60. Since the area of the seqSFF 60 is larger than thatof the SFF, if all the user FFs are substituted with the seqSFFs 60, itcauses an increase in the area of the circuit.

The semiconductor device 1G according to the eighth embodiment has astructure in which the target to be substituted with the seqSFF 60 islimited to some user FFs. In FIG. 33, the flip-flop that does notinclude the scan function is denoted by an FF and the flip-flop thatincludes the scan function is denoted by an SFF.

First, in the eighth embodiment, when the plurality of capture clocksare applied in the clock sequential test, the user FF in which thenumber of failures to be detected is efficiently increased when thefailure that has reached the data input terminal DATA is accumulated isselected.

The selection of the user FF that contributes to the improvement in theefficiency of the clock sequential test can be obtained using acombination logic amount of an input cone to the data input terminalDATA or a probability-based failure simulation or the like. Then onlythe user FF that has been selected is substituted with the seqSFF 60,whereby the scan chain is constructed.

FIG. 33 shows one example of the semiconductor device 1G in which thetarget to be substituted with the seqSFF 60 is limited to some user FFs.The semiconductor device 1G includes one or more scan chains. In theexample shown in FIG. 33, a shift register structure 7D in the userlogic is incorporated into at least one scan chain 6F among theplurality of scan chains. The scan chain 6F does not include an SFF. Thescan chain 6F includes two seqSFFs 60 and a shift register structure 7Dthat has the seqSFF 60 at the top thereof and is arranged between thetwo seqSFFs 60. Since the configuration of the scan chain 6F is similarto that of the scan chain 6E according to the seventh embodiment, adetailed description thereof will be omitted.

Since the shift register structure 7D is included in the user FF thathas been selected in FIG. 33, the shift register structure 7D isincorporated into the scan chain 6F. However, the present invention isnot limited to this example. All the user FFs that have been selectedmay be substituted with the seqSFFs 60 and the scan chain 6F may becomposed of only the seqSFFs 60.

At least one scan chain 6G among the plurality of scan chains does notinclude the seqSFF 60. The scan chain 6G includes two SFFs and a shiftregister 8 that has the SFF at the top thereof and is arranged betweenthe two SFFs. The shift register 8 includes an SFF and two FFs. Whilethe scan chain 6G includes the shift register 8, there may be a scanchain that does not include the shift register.

As described above, by limiting the target which is to be substitutedwith the seqSFF 60 to some user FFs in which the efficiency improvementeffect of the clock sequential test is high, it is possible to suppressthe increase in the area and to reduce the test time.

Ninth Embodiment

With reference to FIG. 34, a semiconductor device in which a scanflip-flop for a sequential test (seqSFF) according to a ninth embodimentis inserted will be described. FIG. 34 is a diagram showing aconfiguration of a semiconductor device 1H in which the seqSFF accordingto the ninth embodiment is inserted. As shown in FIG. 9, thesemiconductor device 1H includes a DUT 2, a PRPG 3, an MISR 4, an LBISTcontroller 5, an seqSFF 60, and an seqSFF 70. In FIG. 34, the seqSFF 60is indicated by an seqSFF and the seqSFF 70 is indicated by an seqSFF2.

In the semiconductor device 1H, the seqSFF 60 and the seqSFF 70 areincluded in at least one scan chain 6H among the plurality of scanchains. In the example shown in FIG. 34, the seqSFF 70 is arranged atthe top of the scan chain 6H, a shift register structure including theseqSFF 60 and two normal FFs are arranged thereafter, and the seqSFF 60is connected thereafter.

The seqSFF 60 may have the configuration shown in FIG. 16. While theseqSFF 60 is used in the example shown in FIG. 34, an seqSFF havinganother configuration that satisfies the functions of the truth tableshown in FIG. 21 may be used in place of the seqSFF 60. Since theconfiguration other than the configuration of the seqSFF 70 is the sameas that described with reference to FIG. 33, a detailed descriptionthereof will be omitted.

In each of the other scan chains, the SFF is arranged at the top thereofand then the SFF, two normal FFs, and the SFF are connected in thisorder. That is, the shift register is included in the other scan chains.However, the present invention is not limited to this structure and theseqSFF 60 and the seqSFF 70 may be included in all the scan chains.

In the semiconductor device 1H according to the ninth embodiment, it ispossible to hold the failure propagated to the seqSFF 60 at the laststage on the scan chain 6H in the clock sequential test. As shown inFIG. 34, the seqSFF 70 includes an AND gate 71, an XOR gate 72, an MUX73, an FF 74, a data input terminal DATA, a data input terminal DATA2, atest enable input terminal SEQ_TEST_EN, a scan-in terminal SIN, acontrol input terminal SMC, a clock terminal CLK, and a data outputterminal Q.

The output of the seqSFF 70 is connected to the scan-in terminal SIN ofthe subsequent seqSFF 60. The output of the seqSFF 60 at the last stageis connected to the data input terminal DATA2 of the seqSFF 70. TheseqSFF 70 is able to capture, similar to the seqSFF 60, the operationresult from the DUT 2 in each of the plurality of capture clocks in onecapture operation period.

The operation result from the DUT 2 is input to the data input terminalDATA in the capture operation period. Further, the first operationresult that the seqSFF 60 at the last stage has captured in the firstcapture clock is input to the data input terminal DATA2 in the captureoperation period. That is, the seqSFF 70 includes data input terminalshaving two systems.

The AND gate 71 outputs the logical AND of the signal input through thedata input terminal DATA2 and the test enable signal. The XOR gate 72receives the signal input through the data input terminal DATA and thelogical AND input from the AND gate 71 and outputs the exclusive ORthereof.

The MUX 73 receives the signal input through the scan-in terminal SINand the signal output from the XOR gate 72. The MUX 73 switches the scanshift operation and the capture operation according to the scan enablesignal input through the control input terminal SMC. In the exampleshown in FIG. 34, in the MUX 73, the input from the scan-in terminal SINbecomes valid when the scan enable signal is high (1). Further, in theMUX 73, the output from the XOR gate 72 becomes valid when the scanenable signal is low (0).

The FF 74 captures the value output from the MUX 73 according to theclock signal input through the clock terminal CLK (clock2) and outputsthe captured value to the scan-in terminal SIN of the subsequent seqSFF60 from the data output terminal Q.

The seqSFF 70 captures the value of the scan-in terminal SIN when thescan enable signal=1. Further, the seqSFF 70 captures the value from thedata input terminal DATA when the test enable signal=0 and the scanenable signal=0. When the test enable signal=1 and the scan enablesignal=0, the exclusive OR of the value of the data input terminal DATAand the value of the data input terminal DATA2 is captured in the secondcapture clock that comes after the first capture clock.

That is, the seqSFF 70 is able to concurrently capture the failure thathas reached both the data input terminal DATA and the data inputterminal DATA2. Therefore, the first operation result that the seqSFF 60at the last stage of the scan chain 6H has captured in the first captureclock is propagated to the seqSFF 70 at the first stage in the secondcapture clock that comes after the first capture clock.

As described above, in the semiconductor device 1H according to theninth embodiment, even when the capture clock is applied a plurality oftimes in one capture operation period in the clock sequential test, thefailure captured by the seqSFF 60 at the last stage of the scan chain 6Hin one capture clock is propagated to the seqSFF 70 at the first stagein the next capture clock and the failure does not disappear.

In the fifth to eighth embodiments, the operation result captured by theseqSFF 60 at the last stage of the scan chain in one capture clock inthe clock sequential test is propagated to nowhere in the next capturecycle and it disappears.

When the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 34 is used as in the ninthembodiment, however, the operation result captured by the seqSFF 60 atthe last stage can be propagated to the seqSFF 70 at the first stage inthe capture clock in the next capture cycle, whereby it is possible toprevent the failure from being disappeared. As a result, when thecapture clock is applied a plurality of times in the capture operationperiod, the number of failures that can be detected increases, wherebyit is possible to reduce the test time and to improve the faultcoverage.

The logical structure of the seqSFF2 is not limited to the logicalstructure of the seqSFF 70 shown in FIG. 34. The seqSFF 70 may have anyconfiguration as long as it has the schematic configuration of the scanflip-flop for the sequential test shown in FIG. 35 and it satisfies thefunctions shown in the truth table shown in FIG. 36.

That is, when the scan enable signal is 0 and the test enable signal is0, the value of the data input terminal DATA is captured. When the scanenable signal is 0 and the test enable signal is 1, the exclusive OR ofthe value of the data input terminal DATA and the value of the datainput terminal DATA2

DATA⊕DATA2

or the negative exclusive OR thereof

(DATA⊕DATA2)is captured.

When the scan enable signal is 1, regardless of the value of the testenable signal, the negative value of the value of the scan-in terminalSIN (SIN) or the value of the scan-in terminal SIN

SINis captured.

Tenth Embodiment

With reference to FIG. 37, a semiconductor device in which a scanflip-flop for a sequential test (seqSFF) according to a tenth embodimentis inserted will be described. FIG. 37 is a diagram showing aconfiguration of a semiconductor device 1I in which the seqSFF accordingto the tenth embodiment is inserted. As shown in FIG. 37, thesemiconductor device 1I includes a DUT 2, a PRPG 3, an MISR 4I, an LBISTcontroller 5, and an seqSFF 60. In the semiconductor device 1I, in theclock sequential test, the failure that has propagated to the seqSFF 60at the last stage can be held by the MISR 4I.

In the semiconductor device 1I, at least one scan chain 6I among aplurality of scan chains includes the seqSFF 60 and the normal FF. Inthe example shown in FIG. 37, the seqSFF 60 is arranged at the top ofthe scan chain 6I, a shift register structure including the seqSFF 60and two normal FFs is arranged thereafter, and the seqSFF 60 is arrangedthereafter.

The observation SFF 30 may have the configuration shown in FIG. 16.While the seqSFF 60 is used in the example shown in FIG. 34, an seqSFFhaving another configuration that satisfies the functions of the truthtable shown in FIG. 21 may be used in place of the seqSFF 60. In theother scan chains, the SFF is arranged at the top thereof, and then theSFF, two normal FFs, and the SFF are connected in this order. Since theconfiguration of the scan chain is the same as that shown in FIG. 33, adetailed description thereof will be omitted.

The first operation result that the seqSFF 60 at the last stage of thescan chain 6I has captured in the first capture clock is propagated tothe MISR 4I in the second capture clock that comes after the firstcapture clock. In the example shown in FIG. 37, a clock signal (clock 2)is input to the MISR 4I. The MISR 4C captures the value output from theseqSFF 60 at the last stage in synchronization with the clock signal(clock2).

In the normal scan test, there is no need to observe the output of theflip-flop at the final stage of the scan chain in the capture operationperiod. Therefore, the MISR does not generally include a function ofcapturing the output value of the flip-flop at the final stage in thecapture operation period.

In the tenth embodiment, the MISR 4I is supplied with the clock andoperates also in the capture operation period. Accordingly, the MISR 4Iis able to capture the output value of the seqSFF 60 at the final stageof the scan chain 6I also when the capture clock is applied a pluralityof times in the clock sequential test.

As described above, in each capture cycle, the failure that has reachedthe seqSFF 60 at the last stage can be captured by the MISR 4I. It istherefore possible to observe the failure without causing the failure todisappear. It is therefore possible to increase the number of failuresthat can be detected during one capture operation period of the clocksequential test and to reduce the test time.

With reference to FIGS. 38 and 39, a design device 200 according to thisembodiment will be described. FIG. 38 is a diagram showing aconfiguration of the design device 200 that designs the semiconductordevice according to the fifth to tenth embodiments. FIG. 39 is a diagramshowing a design flow of the semiconductor device according to thisembodiment. The design device 200 designs the semiconductor device usingthe above seqSFFs in which the efficiency of the clock sequential testis high.

The design device 200 includes an arithmetic processing unit 210, astorage device 220, a control input device 230, and a display outputdevice 231. Since the control input device 230 and the display outputdevice 231 have configurations similar to those of the control inputdevice 130 and the display output device 131 described with reference toFIG. 12, descriptions thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

The arithmetic processing unit 210 is an apparatus capable of loading aprogram necessary for the design of the semiconductor devices 1D to 1Iand executing each functional process necessary for the design andincludes a CPU, a memory and the like. The arithmetic processing unit210 includes a scanning program 211. The scanning program 211 includes,besides a general function of scanning, a function of selecting, fromamong the user FFs to be scanned, the user FF in which the effect whenthe clock sequential test is applied would become high if it weresubstituted with the seqSFF that satisfies the functions of the truthtable shown in FIG. 21.

The storage device 220 includes a net list 221, a functional library222, a test limitation DB 223, and a scanned net list 226. The storagedevice 220 indicates a storage medium such as a HDD disc or a memorythat stores information in the library and the net list.

The net list 221 stores, besides cell information of the seqSFFs statedabove, cell information of the AND gate, the OR gate, the XOR gate andthe like, connection information among the terminals and the like. Thefunctional library 222 stores functions of the cell and the like. Thetest limitation DB 223 stores information necessary for the circuitoperation when the test is performed.

The design device 200 generates the semiconductor device in which theseqSFF is inserted described in the fifth to tenth embodiments byreferring to the net list 221, the functional library 222, and the testlimitation DB 223 of the storage device 220 using the scanning program212 of the arithmetic processing unit 210.

With reference next to FIG. 39, a design flow of the semiconductordevice will be described. As shown in FIG. 39, first, predeterminedinformation is input to the net list 221, the functional library 222,and the test limitation DB 223 (Step S31). After that, by analyzing theinput information, the circuit information and the test limitationinformation are identified (Step S32). In this example, information on ascannable user FF in the circuit, the test limitation information andthe like are acquired. The user FF that includes the shift registerstructure is identified from the circuit configuration (Step S33).

Then, a desired number of user FFs to be substituted with the seqSFF areselected in consideration of the area overhead based on the informationon the scannable user ET that has been identified to determine thecandidate to be substituted with the seqSFF (Step S34). The algorithmfor selecting the candidate to be substituted with the seqSFF can bereduced, for example, to a problem of obtaining maximization of thenumber of failures that can be observed on the input logic cone of theuser FF to be substituted.

After the candidate to be substituted with the seqSFF has beendetermined, the user FF to be substituted is substituted with the seqSFFand the scan chain is constructed using the subsequent shift registerstructure (Step S35). The other user FFs are also substituted with theSFF, whereby the scan chain is constructed (Step S36). The scanned netlist in which the seqSFF is inserted is output (Step S37), and theprocessing for generating the net list is thus completed. By using thedesign device 200 shown in FIG. 38, it is possible to generate thescanned net list having a circuit configuration in which the efficiencyof the sequential test is high.

By using the scanned net list thus generated, it is possible to increasethe number of failures that can be detected during one capture operationperiod of the clock sequential test and to design the semiconductordevice capable of reducing the test execution time.

In the following processes, the compression scanning circuit or theLBIST circuit is added by a general compression circuit addition programand a clock sequential test pattern is generated by a general testgeneration program. It is therefore possible to obtain the effect ofreducing the test time as shown in FIG. 31.

The aforementioned embodiments can be combined as appropriate. Forexample, a semiconductor device in which both the test point circuit andthe scan flip-flop for the sequential test described above are insertedcan be formed. FIG. 40 shows a configuration example of a semiconductordevice in which the test point circuits 20 and the seqSFFs 60 areinserted.

As shown in FIG. 40, at least one of the plurality of scan chains iscomposed of only the observation SFFs 20. Further, at least one of theother scan chains is composed of only the seqSFFs 60. In the exampleshown in FIG. 40, five observation SFFs 20 are connected in serial inone scan chain. Further, five seqSFFs 60 are connected in serial in theother scan chain.

As described above, by inserting the observation SFFs 20 and the seqSFFs60, it is possible to suppress the increase in the area overhead due tothe insertion of the test point when the clock sequential test isperformed and to increase the fault coverage while reducing the testtime.

While the invention made by the present inventors has been specificallydescribed based on the embodiments, it is needless to say that thepresent invention is not limited to the embodiments stated above and maybe changed in various ways without departing from the spirit of thepresent invention.

The above embodiments can be combined as desirable by one of ordinaryskill in the art.

While the invention has been described in terms of several embodiments,those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can bepracticed with various modifications within the spirit and scope of theappended claims and the invention is not limited to the examplesdescribed above.

Further, the scope of the claims is not limited by the embodimentsdescribed above.

Furthermore, it is noted that, Applicant's intent is to encompassequivalents of all claim elements, even if amended later duringprosecution.

What is claimed is:
 1. A test point circuit that is inserted in acombination circuit, the combination circuit outputting an operationresult in accordance with a test signal that is scanned in, wherein: aplurality of test point circuits constitute a scan chain, and in onecapture operation period of a clock sequential test, the test pointcircuit captures a first operation result in a second capture clock thatcomes after a first capture clock, the first operation result havingbeen captured by a test point circuit at a previous stage or a laststage of the scan chain in the first capture clock.
 2. The test pointcircuit according to claim 1, comprising: a scan-in terminal thatreceives the test signal in a scan shift operation period and receivesthe first operation result captured by the previous test point circuitof the scan chain in the capture operation period; a data input terminalthat receives the operation result from the combination circuit; an XORgate that receives the operation result input to the data input terminaland the first operation result input to the scan-in terminal and outputsan exclusive OR of the operation result and the first operation resultin the capture operation period; and a flip-flop that captures theexclusive OR in the second capture clock.
 3. The test point circuitaccording to claim 1, comprising: a scan-in terminal that receives thetest signal in a scan shift operation period and receives the firstoperation result captured by the previous test point circuit of the scanchain in the capture operation period; a data input terminal thatreceives the operation result from the combination circuit; an NOR gatethat receives the operation result input to the data input terminal anda control signal that switches the scan shift operation to the captureoperation and outputs a negative OR of the operation result and thecontrol signal in the capture operation period; an XOR gate thatreceives the first operation result input to the scan-in terminal andthe negative OR and outputs an exclusive OR of the first operationresult and the negative OR; and a flip-flop that captures the exclusiveOR input from the XOR gate in the second capture clock.
 4. The testpoint circuit according to claim 1, comprising: a scan-in terminal thatreceives the test signal in a scan shift operation period; a first datainput terminal that receives the operation result from the combinationcircuit; a second data input terminal that receives the first operationresult captured by the test point circuit at the last stage of the scanchain in the capture operation period; an XOR gate that receives theoperation result input to the first data input terminal and the firstoperation result input to the second data input terminal and outputs anexclusive OR of the operation result and the first operation result inthe capture operation period; and a flip-flop that captures theexclusive OR in the second capture clock.
 5. A semiconductor devicecomprising: a combination circuit that outputs an operation result inaccordance with a test signal that is scanned in; and a plurality oftest point circuits that are inserted in the combination circuit,wherein: a plurality of test point circuits constitute a scan chain, andthe scan chain comprises: a first test point circuit that captures afirst operation result in a first capture clock in one capture operationperiod of a clock sequential test; and a second test point circuit thatcaptures the first operation result captured by the first test pointcircuit in a second capture clock that comes after the first captureclock in the one capture operation period of the clock sequential test.6. The semiconductor device according to claim 5, wherein the secondtest point circuit is provided after the first test point circuit. 7.The semiconductor device according to claim 6, further comprising athird test point circuit arranged at a last stage of the scan chain,wherein: the first test point circuit is provided in a first stage ofthe scan chain, the third test point circuit captures a second operationresult in the first capture clock, and the first test point circuitreceives the second operation result captured by the third test pointcircuit in the second capture clock.
 8. The semiconductor deviceaccording to claim 5, wherein: the first test point circuit is providedat a last stage of the scan chain, and the second test point circuit isprovided in a first stage of the scan chain.
 9. The semiconductor deviceaccording to claim 5, further comprising a compressor that compresses aresponse result output from the scan chain, wherein the compressorcapture an operation result in the second capture clock, the operationresult having been captured by the test point circuit provided at a laststage of the scan chain in the first capture clock.
 10. Thesemiconductor device according to claim 5, wherein the second test pointcircuit comprises: a scan-in terminal that receives the test signal in ascan shift operation period and receives the first operation resultcaptured by the previous test point circuit of the scan chain in thecapture operation period; a data input terminal that receives theoperation result from the combination circuit; an XOR gate that receivesthe operation result input to the data input terminal and the firstoperation result input to the scan-in terminal and outputs an exclusiveOR of the operation result and the first operation result in the captureoperation period; and a flip-flop that captures the exclusive OR in thesecond capture clock.
 11. The semiconductor device according to claim 5,wherein the second test point circuit comprises: a scan-in terminal thatreceives the test signal in a scan shift operation period and receivesthe first operation result captured by the previous test point circuitof the scan chain in the capture operation period; a data input terminalthat receives the operation result from the combination circuit; an NORgate that receives the operation result input to the data input terminaland a control signal that switches the scan shift operation to thecapture operation and outputs a negative OR of the operation result andthe control signal in the capture operation period; an XOR gate thatreceives the first operation result input to the scan-in terminal andthe negative OR and outputs an exclusive OR of the first operationresult and the negative OR; and a flip-flop that captures the exclusiveOR input from the XOR gate in the second capture clock.
 12. Thesemiconductor device according to claim 5, wherein the second test pointcircuit comprises: a scan-in terminal that receives the test signal in ascan shift operation period; a first data input terminal that receivesthe operation result from the combination circuit; a second data inputterminal that receives the first operation result captured by the testpoint circuit at a last stage of the scan chain in the capture operationperiod; an XOR gate that receives the operation result input to thefirst data input terminal and the first operation result input to thesecond data input terminal and outputs an exclusive OR of the operationresult and the first operation result in the capture operation period;and a flip-flop that captures the exclusive OR in the second captureclock.
 13. The semiconductor device according to claim 5, furthercomprising a pseudo random pattern generator that is provided in aninput side of the scan chain and supplies a pseudo random number as thetest signal.
 14. A design device of a semiconductor device comprising anarithmetic processing unit capable of executing predetermined processingin accordance with a program that has been set in advance, wherein: thesemiconductor device comprises: a combination circuit that outputs anoperation result in accordance with a test signal that is scanned in;and a plurality of test point circuits that are inserted in thecombination circuit, the plurality of test point circuits constitute ascan chain, and the scan chain comprises: a first test point circuitthat captures a first operation result in a first capture clock in onecapture operation period of a clock sequential test; and a second testpoint circuit that captures the first operation result captured by thefirst test point circuit in a second capture clock that comes after thefirst capture clock in the one capture operation period of the clocksequential test.
 15. The design device according to claim 14, wherein:the arithmetic processing unit executes processing for analyzing theprobability that the operation result from the combination circuitbecomes a predetermined logic state, the arithmetic processing unitselects a position in which the test point circuit is inserted based onthe result of the analysis processing, the arithmetic processing unitinserts the first test point circuit and the second test point circuitin the selected position, and the arithmetic processing unit constitutesthe scan chain using the first test point circuit and the second testpoint circuit.
 16. The design device according to claim 14, wherein thearithmetic processing unit executes processing for connecting the secondtest point circuit after the first test point circuit in the scan chain.17. The design device according to claim 14, wherein: the semiconductordevice further comprises, a third test point circuit that constitutesthe scan chain besides the first and second test point circuits andcaptures a second operation result in the second capture clock, and thearithmetic processing unit executes processing for connecting the firsttest point circuit to a first stage of the scan chain and the third testpoint circuit to a last stage of the scan chain so that the first testpoint circuit receives the second operation result.
 18. The designdevice according to claim 14, wherein the arithmetic processing unitexecutes processing for connecting the first test point circuit to alast stage of the scan chain and the second test point circuit to afirst stage of the scan chain.
 19. The design device according to claim14, wherein the arithmetic processing unit executes processing forinserting a compressor that compresses a response result output from thescan chain into an output side of the test point circuit provided at alast stage of the scan chain.
 20. The design device according to claim19, wherein the compressor captures an operation result in the secondcapture clock, the operation result having been captured by the testpoint circuit provided at the last stage of the scan chain in the firstcapture clock.
 21. A scan flip-flop for a sequential test thatconstitutes a scan chain and is able to switch a scan shift operationand a capture operation, the scan flip-flop for the sequential testoperating as a shift register in the scan shift operation and capturingan operation result from a combination circuit in the capture operation,wherein: the scan flip-flop for the sequential test comprises a testenable input terminal that receives a test enable signal, in accordancewith the test enable signal, in one capture operation period of a clocksequential test, the scan flip-flop for the sequential test captures afirst operation result from the combination circuit in a second captureclock that comes after the first capture clock, the first operationresult having been captured by a first cell provided before the scanflip-flop for the sequential test in the scan chain or provided at alast stage of the scan chain in a first capture clock.
 22. The scanflip-flop for the sequential test according to claim 21, wherein thescan flip-flop for the sequential test captures an exclusive OR or anegative exclusive OR of the first operation result and a secondoperation result from the combination circuit in the second captureclock, the second operation result having been captured by the scanflip-flop for the sequential test.
 23. A semiconductor device comprisinga scan chain and a combination circuit, the scan chain comprising thescan flip-flop for the sequential test according to claim 21 and a firstcell, the semiconductor device being capable of switching a scan shiftoperation and a capture operation, the scan shift operation operatingthe first cell in the scan chain and the scan flip-flop for thesequential test as a shift register, and the capture operation capturingan operation result from the combination circuit, wherein: the firstcell captures a first operation result in a first capture clock in onecapture operation period of a clock sequential test, the scan flip-flopfor the sequential test comprises a test enable input terminal thatreceives a test enable signal, and the scan flip-flop for the sequentialtest captures the first operation result in a second capture clock thatcomes after the first capture clock in accordance with the test enablesignal.
 24. The semiconductor device according to claim 23, wherein thescan flip-flop for the sequential test captures an exclusive OR or anegative exclusive OR of the first operation result and a secondoperation result from the combination circuit captured by the scanflip-flop for the sequential test in the second capture clock.
 25. Thesemiconductor device according to claim 23, wherein: the first cell is ascan flip-flop; and the scan flip-flop for the sequential test isconnected after the first cell in the scan chain.
 26. The semiconductordevice according to claim 23, wherein the first cell has a configurationsimilar to that of the scan flip-flop for the sequential test.
 27. Thesemiconductor device according to claim 23, wherein the scan chainfurther comprises a shift register structure comprising: a second cellthat has a configuration similar to that of the scan flip-flop for thesequential test; and a flip-flop that directly captures a thirdoperation result from the combination circuit captured by the secondcell.
 28. The semiconductor device according to claim 25, furthercomprising a compressor that compresses a response result output fromthe scan chain, wherein the compressor observes an operation result inthe second capture clock, the operation result having been captured bythe scan flip-flop for the sequential test provided at a last stage ofthe scan chain in the first capture clock.